Udupi diocese to celebrate first anniversary on October 15

Pics: Umesh Marpalli
Daijiworld Media Network - Udupi (SM)

Udupi, Oct 11: The Udupi diocese will mark its first anniversary at Milagres Cathedral Kallianpur on Tuesday October 15, said bishop of Udupi diocese Dr Gerald Isaac Lobo at a press meet at Bishop's House here on Friday October 11. The celebration, however, is expected to be low-key.

On October 15, 2012, Udupi diocese became the 13th Catholic diocese to be formed in Karnataka. It is the third largest after the Archdiocese of Bangalore and the parent diocese of Mangalore in terms of the number of faithful. The bishop also announced the appointment of Fr Denis D'Sa as the new public relations officer (PRO) of the Udupi diocese.

The bishop also thanked the media for supporting the diocese in its activities since its inception and gave a brief profile about Fr Denis D'Sa.

Fr Denis D’sa, who was also present, said that the anniversary will be a restrospection of the past one year and an occasion to look ahead with hope and confidence.

Elaborating on the activities undertaken by the diocese over the past year, he said, "The activities of the Diocese include a series of meetings, detailed planning and also intense familiarization drive by criss-crossing the entire Diocese, visiting all the 48 parishes and mapping out comprehensive strategies for growth on a sound and firm foundation. The results would be known in the years to come.

"In support of the family life in the diocese, a Tribunal has been set up. Society of St Vincent De Paul, Tertiary Franciscan Order, Legion of Mary, Catholic Sabha, Sthree Sanghatan and units of other lay associations have started functioning. As many as 17 different commissions, involving the religious and laymen, for pastoral service have come into being. All these are essential and form the foundation of any diocese, especially a new one," he added.

"Documents and records related to various parishes have been brought from Mangalore diocese and rearranged and kept systematically. Four books have been compiled and published to help in teaching Christian doctrine in the parishes. All these tasks cannot be quantified, but in the diocesan administration, attention to these details can seldom be overlooked," he said.

"Most importantly, socio-economic survey of each and every Catholic family in the diocese has already been completed to assess the actual position and overall requirements in terms of educational, financial and socio-cultural or healthcare support and on the basis of the analysis of the data, work on preparation and adoption of suitable programmes is being taken up.

"Further, we need to evolve and embark on programmes tailored to cater to the aspirations of the younger generation and meet the special needs of the older people, especially women. Hospital to cater for the health needs of the poorer sections of our community; institutions of higher education for youth to shape them as the leaders of the community and also meet the basic needs of the poor and marginalized," Fr Denis D'Sa said.

"In order to ensure that the diocese functions properly and takes up concrete plans to meet the needs it is necessary that the corpus of the proposed education fund is established. To cater to the health needs of the poor and destitute, a health fund, and to provide basic amenities to those below poverty line corpus funds need to be established.  This needs the support and generous contributions from all concerned, especially those who are financially better placed," he added.

"Udupi being a Temple Town, Udupi diocese is doing the best to promote religious and communal harmony by developing healthy and cordial relations by meeting different religious and community leaders. There will be a Deepavali celebration in the diocese this year," he added.

The bishop said that the faithful from the Udupi diocese who are serving abroad can join their hands with the people of Udupi in being part of the people centric projects by contributing whatever they can.

Fr Baptist Menezes and Fr Fredrick Mascarenhas were present.

Udupi diocese at a glance

Population of Udupi                   11,77,908

Catholic Population                   65,634

Catholic Families                      14, 568

Diocesan Priests                      67

Relgious Priests                       15

Relgious Sisters                       256

Parishes                                  48

Deaneries                                05

Women Religious Houses          41

Men Religious Houses                09

Shrines                                      03

Diocesan Nursery Schools            09

Diocesan Primary Schools            43

Diocesan High Schools                 15

Junior Colleges                             06

Degree Colleges                           04

Post graduate Centres                   02

Students studying in diocesan
Educational Institutions                  33,477

Homes for the Aged                        06

Technical Schools                           03

Hostels                                          11

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